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EP0388101B1 - Laying underwater cables - Google Patents

Laying underwater cables Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0388101B1
EP0388101B1 EP90302568A EP90302568A EP0388101B1 EP 0388101 B1 EP0388101 B1 EP 0388101B1 EP 90302568 A EP90302568 A EP 90302568A EP 90302568 A EP90302568 A EP 90302568A EP 0388101 B1 EP0388101 B1 EP 0388101B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
cable
vessel
laying
hold
burying
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP90302568A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0388101A1 (en
Inventor
Stuart Crawford
Philip Sykes
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Nortel Networks Ltd
Original Assignee
Northern Telecom Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Northern Telecom Ltd filed Critical Northern Telecom Ltd
Publication of EP0388101A1 publication Critical patent/EP0388101A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0388101B1 publication Critical patent/EP0388101B1/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B63—SHIPS OR OTHER WATERBORNE VESSELS; RELATED EQUIPMENT
    • B63B—SHIPS OR OTHER WATERBORNE VESSELS; EQUIPMENT FOR SHIPPING 
    • B63B3/00—Hulls characterised by their structure or component parts
    • B63B3/02—Hulls assembled from prefabricated sub-units
    • B63B3/08—Hulls assembled from prefabricated sub-units with detachably-connected sub-units
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B63—SHIPS OR OTHER WATERBORNE VESSELS; RELATED EQUIPMENT
    • B63B—SHIPS OR OTHER WATERBORNE VESSELS; EQUIPMENT FOR SHIPPING 
    • B63B35/00—Vessels or similar floating structures specially adapted for specific purposes and not otherwise provided for
    • B63B35/04—Cable-laying vessels

Definitions

  • This invention relates to laying underwater cables, particularly telecommunication fibre optic cables but not exclusively so.
  • Underwater telecommunication cables have in the past been laid by large purpose-built cable laying ships such as the cable ship Mercury owned and operated by Cable and Wireless, and Alert owned and operated by British Telecom. Both these ships are suited to laying cables in deep water up to the deepest ocean waters in the world.
  • a problem with such purpose-built cable laying ships is that they cannot work in very shallow water, particularly approaching landfalls, because they are large e.g. 11000 tons. They are also expensive to operate, not only because they are large but more importantly because they are only employed for cable laying on average for a small portion of the year. For the rest of the year they either lay idle or are "adapted" for other uses such as underwater surveys.
  • the ship CABLE PROTECTOR has a deadweight tonnage just under 3000 tonnes is a flatback oil rig supply vessel previously used for carrying drill pipes, mud shifting and diver support functions. It has been converted to cable laying by the addition of a linear cable engine, cable tanks on deck, control cabin and using the existing accommodation for the cable laying crew, and in addition if we have the CIRRUS vehicles for ROV support, a central console cabin for the ploughing rig, with additional diesel engine power plant for providing hydraulic and electric power. It already has some of the other necessary hydraulic, pneumatic and electrical generation plants to provide for the cable laying and burial processes.
  • a flatback is not ideal because the cable is stored on deck and is therefote afforded little protection. Such an arrangement is less suited to bad weather conditions. Furthermore these vessels still suffer from a point of view of economy of operation because they are expensively equipped and they are not very suitable for deeper water applications and bad weather conditions.
  • a vessel such as a coaster or freighter having a cargo hold and temporarily converted for shore cable laying, the cargo hold providing storage for a shore cable to be laid, the vessel comprising in addition to its normal equipment:
  • the vessel shown is a coaster having a deadweight tonnage of about 1200 tonnes.
  • She has a waterline length of about 80m and a beam of 10m.
  • Her normal operation would be as a cargo conveyer of, say, coal, iron or mixed cargo etc in her hold between ports.
  • Her gross tonneage is about 1500 tonnes.
  • She is diesel-powered with twin screws, having two 2000 H.P. diesel engines giving her a normal operational speed of about 15 knots.
  • she has a bow thruster to improve manoeuvrability when docking and undocking. She would normally have a crew of five.
  • the vessel has been temporarily converted for cable laying by the installation of an accommodation and power module 3, a cable laying engine 16, a cable burying machine 4, a side thruster 5 and a burial machine hawser winch 6. Also a dancing sheave 7 has been provided, supported from a jib 8 which is already present on the vessel for shifting cargo.
  • the ship has two holds 2A and 2B ( others may have a single hold).
  • the power and accommodation module 3 is shown in greater detail in Fig. 3. It comprises rectangular steel boxes 10A, 10B together about the size of four standard cargo containers having upper accommodation compartments 11 including sleeping 11A, bathing 11B, eating 11C and toilet 11D facilities and lower power supply compartments 12 including a 300 KVA generator 12A, an air compressor 12B and a hydraulic power source 12C.
  • a control system 12D provides control over the equipment.
  • the power sources are primarily to power the cable engine and the stern thruster but may also power the cable burial equipment, and the power transfer connections are represented schematically in Figs 2A to 2C by broken lines PT between module 3 and the thruster 5B, the cable engine 16 and the winch 18 and the burial machine 4.
  • the module 3 sits in the rear of the hold 2A and is held in place by welds between the base feet 10C of the module and the floor of the hold 2A and between the side walls of the top box 10A and a modified hatch cover 14. These welds can easily be cut through when the module is removed.
  • a stern side thruster 5 is installed athwartships and comprises a thruster tube 5A and hydraulic impeller 5B driven by the hydraulic pump 12C in the lower half 10B of the module 3.
  • the side thruster is used to control sideways movement of the vessel when trenching the cable and particularly in light tidal waters and light wind to counteract their sideways effect on the vessel.
  • the side thruster tube is welded in place and to holes cut in the hull sides. This could be done in such a way that the welding can be cut through for removal after cable laying is finished and a plate welded over each side hole in the hull to render it water tight again.
  • the thruster tube can be left in place for future use, but disconnected from the power source in the accommodation and power module which is preferable since the tube takes up little space in the cargo hold.
  • a jet pump 13 (Fig. 2B) which is also installed temporarily is powered electrically from the generator 12A and has a suction pipe 13A. It supplies a powerful water jet via hoses (not shown but represented by PT) to injection ports of the burial equipment 4. This equipment is also part of the temporary conversion of the vessel and is removable after use for cable laying.
  • the burial equipment 4 weighs about nine tons and is towed by a hawser 15 behind the vessel to bury the cable as it is payed out from the vessel.
  • a chartered suitable vessel such as the freighter or coaster shown, is sent to a shipyard for conversion which will take about one week.
  • the main element of the conversion is the accommodation and power module which is craned onto the vessel and removably welded in place. Also provided are:-
  • the vessel then moves to a cable loading berth and the cable is loaded. It then sails to the nearest port, jetty or sheltered anchorage to the starting end of the system.
  • the burial machine can either be assembled at this point and towed to the landing beach or assembled by the cable laying crew in the water alongside the vessel once the vessel is safely moored off the landing beach.
  • the machine is then either floated onto the beach by means of ballast tanks, provided there is negligible surf, or kept floating alongside the parent vessel until the cable is landed.
  • the stern thruster 5 controls sideways drift of the vessel in conjunction with the bow thruster already normally present on the vessel.
  • the cable is first landed and laid without burial. Then the burial machine is deployed and divers put the cable into the dancing sheave 7 as shown in Fig. 1. In this mode the cable act as a guide line for steering the vessel as it moves away from the beach. The angle, which the lift wire 7A on the sheave takes is measured by the control 7B used by the operator, and used to position the vessel laterally over the cable.
  • a tension read-out from the jib head indicates whether these is excess slack in which case the sheave is lifted to reduce it, or excess tension in which case the sheave is lowered to reduce it.
  • the stern thruster 5 and the already existing forward thruster, both extending athwartships are controlled by the operator using a joystick, while the forward speed of the vessel is controlled by the laying mater on the bridge, using tow-line tension in the hawser 15 as its guide to the desired speed of the vessel.
  • the vessel is kept aligned with the direction of lay of the cable.
  • a diver At the end of burial in e.g. 100 fathoms of water, a diver goes down from the ship and disengages the cable from the dancing sheave and an entry bellmouth on the burial machine. With suitable mechanical control in place of a diver, burial could continue up to say 800m of water.
  • the sheave 7 is then hoisted on the ship and the burial machine ballast tanks are "blown". It returns to the surface and is towed either to port or a place of shelter or to the next burial section of the cable system which normally would be the landfall at the other end of the system.
  • the chartered freighter temporarily converted provides a suitable vessel for laying and burying cables anywhere in the world, and by removal of the accommodation and power module, the cable engine, drums, cable way, burying head and jet pump, and by disconnecting the power supply to the stern side thruster and ancillary controls, the freighter can continue working as a freighter again.

Landscapes

  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Ocean & Marine Engineering (AREA)
  • Laying Of Electric Cables Or Lines Outside (AREA)
  • Electric Cable Installation (AREA)
EP90302568A 1989-03-13 1990-03-09 Laying underwater cables Expired - Lifetime EP0388101B1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB8905736 1989-03-13
GB898905736A GB8905736D0 (en) 1989-03-13 1989-03-13 Laying underwater cables

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0388101A1 EP0388101A1 (en) 1990-09-19
EP0388101B1 true EP0388101B1 (en) 1993-02-03

Family

ID=10653238

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP90302568A Expired - Lifetime EP0388101B1 (en) 1989-03-13 1990-03-09 Laying underwater cables

Country Status (7)

Country Link
US (1) US5080530A (da)
EP (1) EP0388101B1 (da)
JP (1) JP2854080B2 (da)
DE (1) DE69000842D1 (da)
DK (1) DK0388101T3 (da)
ES (1) ES2039114T3 (da)
GB (1) GB8905736D0 (da)

Families Citing this family (12)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US7685957B2 (en) * 2002-11-12 2010-03-30 Lockheed Martin Corporation Mission module ship design
JP2008060552A (ja) 2006-08-02 2008-03-13 Osaka Univ 電子回路装置とその製造方法
US8021080B2 (en) * 2007-04-26 2011-09-20 Westerngeco L.L.C. Containerized geophysical equipment handling and storage systems, and methods of use
DE102011000948A1 (de) 2011-02-25 2012-08-30 Atlas Elektronik Gmbh Schleppsonaranlage sowie Verfahren zum Durchführen einer Sonarmission mittels einer derartigen Schleppsonaranlage
KR101358121B1 (ko) * 2012-02-28 2014-02-24 삼성중공업 주식회사 해저 파이프라인 부설장치 및 이를 포함하는 부설시스템
US8747025B2 (en) * 2012-11-14 2014-06-10 J. Ray Mcdermott, S.A. Offshore cable laying method
KR101433102B1 (ko) 2013-03-28 2014-08-22 대우조선해양 주식회사 케이블의 텐션을 고려한 동적 위치 제어 시스템 및 그의 위치 제어 방법
CN105655928B (zh) * 2016-03-18 2017-07-14 江苏华西村海洋工程服务有限公司 双缆同沟埋设工艺
EP3333995B1 (en) * 2016-12-07 2024-08-07 Nexans Submarine low loss cable system and method for arranging a submarine cable landfall system
CN106741673B (zh) * 2017-01-13 2019-06-21 国网浙江省电力公司舟山供电公司 一种用于海上平台的海底电缆捆绑式敷设施工装备系统
BR102020026998A2 (pt) * 2020-12-30 2022-07-12 Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras Sistema integrado para remoção e tratamento de bioincrustação marinha em superfícies metálicas submersas
NL2030145B1 (en) * 2021-12-15 2023-06-27 Boskalis Bv Baggermaatschappij Cable laying vessel

Family Cites Families (16)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3136529A (en) * 1962-09-21 1964-06-09 Bell Telephone Labor Inc Method and apparatus for launching repeaters of underwater communication cable
US3751927A (en) * 1972-02-22 1973-08-14 Brown & Root Apparatus for entrenching submerged elongate structures
US3790009A (en) * 1972-11-07 1974-02-05 Brown & Root Method for handling a barge for transferring large heavy cargo modules
US3893404A (en) * 1974-03-25 1975-07-08 Skagit Corp Pull-ahead winch control system
JPS5421632B2 (da) * 1975-02-26 1979-08-01
US4040265A (en) * 1976-02-06 1977-08-09 Marine Engineering Systems, Inc. Mobile offshore platform
GB1540650A (en) * 1976-04-06 1979-02-14 Standard Telephones Cables Ltd Cable transferring equipment
US4091629A (en) * 1977-04-11 1978-05-30 Gunn Charles R Marine pipeline installation system
JPS53136696A (en) * 1977-04-30 1978-11-29 Sumitomo Electric Ind Ltd Method of raising submarine cable to floating island
US4340322A (en) * 1978-05-05 1982-07-20 Santa Fe International Corporation Self propelled dynamically positioned reel pipe laying ship
JPS54163492U (da) * 1978-05-09 1979-11-15
FI62984C (fi) * 1980-10-24 1987-02-17 Waertsilae Oy Ab System foer hyttelement i fartyg.
JPS5849917Y2 (ja) * 1981-09-04 1983-11-14 防衛庁技術研究本部長 ケ−ブル船
US4476798A (en) * 1982-08-17 1984-10-16 Consolidated Olympic Corporation Integrated multiple purpose universal ship hull and replacement module system
GB2173744A (en) * 1985-04-11 1986-10-22 Michael Thomas Beckett Sectional vessels
US4765776A (en) * 1986-11-17 1988-08-23 Mcdermott Incorporated Convertible barge

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP0388101A1 (en) 1990-09-19
GB8905736D0 (en) 1989-04-26
US5080530A (en) 1992-01-14
JPH0328094A (ja) 1991-02-06
DK0388101T3 (da) 1993-04-19
JP2854080B2 (ja) 1999-02-03
ES2039114T3 (es) 1993-08-16
DE69000842D1 (de) 1993-03-18

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